Use of MEDLINE in a Medical Literature Course.

Abstract

ature are rapidly becoming available at remote terminals. Consequently major changes must be made in training students for reference work in medical and other scientific libraries. MEDLINE use has been an integral part of our medical literature course at the University of Maryland for six classes during the past three years. Not only has it been possible for students to use the terminal by themselves with a minimum of introduction, but they learn a great deal from the experience. We cannot quantify their learning because we do not wish to control a study by denying part of a class the experience of using a major medical reference tool. However, for those who are interested in using similar techniques, we should like to describe what we have done and to give some figures on the amount of terminal time involved.